Category: Diversity

“This is my intifada,” [Fatima] says: her act of uprising. Raising her daughters is her rebellion against oppression.

“Fatima” is a modest but engrossing movie, clocking in at a slim 78 minutes, that explores what that sort of act of rebellion might look like for a woman like Fatima: a North African immigrant in her mid-forties, divorced, living in Lyon, in a community that doesn’t seem overly eager to assimilate her or women like her. As such, it combines several currents running through contemporary European cinema: the sticky matter of immigration and assimilation, the challenges faced by the working class, and the tricky matters women navigate when they’re members of both of those groups.

La noire de . . ., by the Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene, is the first feature-length film to come out of sub-Saharan Africa. Technically flawed, it is nevertheless a cultural and cinematographic achievement, and it marks an important date in the history of African cinema. Based on a short story of the same title, written by Sembene and published in Voltaïque (1961),La noire de . . .tells the story of a young African woman who goes to France to work for the French couple who have employed her in Dakar. Filled with joy at the prospect of the trip, she soon becomes disillusioned, and finally, feeling imprisoned and isolated from the support of her own community, kills herself.

Professor Nichols received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Kentucky. He joined the faculty at Indiana State University in 2004.

His specialty is early America, with a particular interest in Native American history during the Revolutionary and early national era. He is the author of Red Gentlemen & White Savages: Indians, Federalists, and the Search for Order on the Early American Frontier(University of Virginia Press, 2008), Engines of Diplomacy: Indian Trading Factories and the Negotiation of American Empire(University of North Carolina Press, 2016), and Peoples of the Inland Sea: Natives Americans and Newcomers in the Great Lakes Region (Ohio University Press, 2018). He is currently working on a study of economic change among the Chickasaws.

The Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics were awarded a grant, from the French government for this contemporary French cinema festival. Each film will have also have a speaker. Tournees Film Festival is made possible by Centre National du Cinéma et de L’image animée, Franco-American Cultural Fund, French Embassy in the United States: Higher Education Arts French Language and Highbrow. Films subtitled in English. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Can a person incapable of speaking or writing somehow produce beautiful literature? In Latest News From the Cosmos (Derniere nouvelles du cosmos), director Julie Bertuccelli answers that question in the affirmative, documenting the remarkable story of Helene Nicolas, aka Babouillec, a severely autistic 30-year-old French woman who manages to convey her deepest inner thoughts through a unique form of poetic wordplay. Both inspirational and informative, this touching creative portrait received a small theatrical release in France and should find additional bookings on the fest circuit, with possibilities for screenings at educational and institutional outfits.

Our students are returning next week. The reprehensible events in Charlottesville, Virginia may be a part of the conversations they will want to have with faculty and staff. The statement I am including from Jim Neal, American Library Association President, represents my feelings on those inexcusable events. As Jim says, as a library community, ‘we must continue to support the creation of a more equitable, diverse and inclusive society.’ I am proud to be part of that library community.

STATEMENT FROM ALA PRESIDENT, JIM NEAL:

Dear Members:
The American Library Association expresses our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those lost and injured during this weekend’s protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. We will not forget their efforts to enlighten and safeguard their communities from bigotry while opposing racist, anti-immigrant, anti-GLBTQ, and anti-Semitic violence. We stand in solidarity with the people of Virginia as well as anyone who protests hate and fights for equity, diversity and inclusion.

The vile and racist actions and messages of the white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in Charlottesville are in stark opposition to the ALA’s core values. No matter the venue or the circumstance, we condemn any form of intimidation or discrimination based on culture, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation. Our differences should be celebrated, and mutual respect and understanding should serve as the norms within our society.

The ALA supports voices of hope as such actions mirror the library community’s efforts to abolish bigotry and cultural invisibility. As we recently stated, ‘we must continue to support the creation of a more equitable, diverse and inclusive society,’ and we will do this through the work of our members and through resources such as Libraries Respond. *

*The ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services has created Libraries Respond as a space for us to help keep current events in conversation with libraries’ ongoing work in and commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. This page will be a resource for the library community to share information, find resources, and connect as they serve their communities.